Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Ninety
18th September 1958
Kleinberg, Silesia
It was a warm autumn afternoon as Bernhard Grzimek walked up the trail through the dense forest. Working as the Director of the Berlin Zoo, living and working in the city made actual nature seem very remote. Escaping to the region that was his childhood home a few times a year was exactly what he needed. As much as he enjoyed a walk in the woods, today he had a task to complete that made it somewhat less enjoyable. He was reminded of that as he heard the sharp crack of a rifle shot in the distance.
Having originally come from Neisse practically made them neighbors in people’s minds. The truth was that Bernhard had avoided Graf von Richthofen because their personal philosophies were very different, and he didn’t want to get into a pointless argument. While the Graf’s desire to preserve nature was laudable from Bernhard’s perspective, the detail that the Graf did it because he always wanted a place to go hunting was not. The Graf’s daughter, Helene was a bit different. She was always willing to listen and had even gone so far as to secure extra funding for the International Zoological Society’s work within Germany.
However, some things could not be avoided. The von Richthofen family was one of the leading proponents of preserving the forests of Silesia, Slovakia, Bohemia and Poland. The Zoological Society wanted to coordinate those efforts and because Bernhard lived less than an hour’s drive from the Richthofen estate he got to be the one to meet with the Graf. Anyone paying attention would have noticed that the conservation efforts that the Graf engaged in served to massively expand the acreage of the family estate. Rumor was that the Graf had done extremely well with his investments in Daimler Benz, Focke-Wulf and Junkers. Buying land when flush was one of the mechanisms that that wealthy families used to remain wealthy. That the land in question had been depopulated by the Second World War and they had been able to acquire it at substantially depressed prices shouldn’t have been lost on anyone either.
The joke went that to find the Graf one only needed to go onto his property and follow the sound of gunfire. That was a slight exaggeration, but there was a bit of truth in that today. At the age of sixty-six the Graf was still vigorous man as evidenced by him taking the time to track down and shoot a feral hog that was on his property.
“Escaped farm stock” The Graf said, “They’re dangerous and we’ve been having problems with them for years. Think we need to save them for your zoo?”
With that the Graf stalked off, leaving Bernhard with a small group of the foresters he employed as well as a woman and an eleven year-old-boy. He recognized the woman as Ilse, the Graf’s daughter-in-law. The boy was unfamiliar.
Bernhard could see that the Graf had placed a single shot just behind the shoulder of the hog. He wasn’t a hunter but knew enough about anatomy to see that the shot that had taken the animal down had been a good one.
“Never mind him” Ilse said, “He’s been it a bit of a mood since Bert got notified that he had received a promotion yesterday.”
Bernhard was hardly surprised. The Graf was known to be the fiercely competitive sort. Getting exceeded by his son would put him off. Anyone who hadn’t been living under a rock for the last few years knew what Albrecht von Richthofen had been doing. The Graf might have been the most famous pilot to emerge from the First World War, his son was shaping to be the most famous pilot, period.
“What are you doing out here?” Bernhard asked Ilse.
“For the necropsy” Ilse said, “Finding out what they have been eating is useful if we are going to control their numbers. I worked on this for a while a few years ago, but now have time again.”
Bernhard remembered seeing the birth announcement of Ilse having a son with Albrecht. “You’re on maternity leave?” He asked.
“Yes” Ilse replied, “The University doesn’t expect me back until January at the earliest.”
“Aren’t you the man on the television?” The boy asked, “The one with the animals?”
Bernhard turned his attention to the boy. He was not quite to adolescence, however the boy’s hands and feet suggested that he would be a tall man in a few years. Something about the shape of his face and jawline also suggested who he was.
“Yes, yes” Bernhard replied to the boy, “And you must be one of the Graf’s grandsons.”
“He is Helene’s boy Manfred” Ilse said, “His Opa has been teaching him about this forest over the last several months.”
Bernhard almost burst out laughing at that. Graf Manfred von Richthofen, who had spent a lifetime as a paragon of the Prussian Officer Class, being someone’s Opa was logical enough. It was just difficult to picture.
“Nikolaus is back at the house with his Poppa and Oma” Ilse said with a great deal of relish, “I needed a bit of quiet for a few hours, out here the only noise is the wind in the trees and the Graf shooting.”
Bernhard remembered what it was like to have a newborn in the house. Ilse probably agreed to come out here because she had desperately needed a break. Digging through pig guts was probably a step up.
“How would you recommend approaching the Graf?” Bernhard asked, “I was asked to see if I could get his plans for regional preservation.”
“Just don’t pick a fight today” Ilse replied, “He would probably be more than willing to debate your differences on any other day. He does respect your perspective, even if he doesn’t share it. He’ll be more than happy to brag about his plans for the coming year once he’s blown off some steam.”
So, the Graf’s daughter-in-law knew him well. While it was expected that the Graf would probably live another thirty years out of spite, it was figured that the duties of minding the family lands would fall onto the younger generation. Albrecht was a career Naval Officer, that meant that it would probably be Ilse who would be the primary manager after the Graf was no longer able to do it himself. Bernhard figured that he would need to suggest to the Zoological Society develop a closer relationship with her.
